Emily M. DeArdo is a writer, speaker, and double lung recipient. At the age of 11, she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a fatal genetic disease, and received a double-lung transplant at the age of 23. Her memoir of these experiences, "Living Memento Mori: My Journey Through the Stations of the Cross," was published by Ave Maria Press on January 24, 2020. Emily graduated from Capital University in Bexley, Ohio, with a degree in Political Science and English Literature. She is a writer for Take Up & Read, a women’s devotional ministry that encourages women to get into the habit of lectio divina (“holy reading” of the Scriptures), and wrote an ebook, Catholic 101: The Basics of Catholicism.